Tyler Anderson delivers once again in Mariners 3-1 win

There are a few constants in life. Death, taxes, the Angels wasting the primes of all-time greats, and Tyler Anderson going a minimum of five innings. He did just that once again for the Mariners in the series-opening win against the Rangers.

Many fans were worried that we were getting a middling starter, one that was hardly worthy of being in the rotation, when we acquired him from Pittsburgh at the deadline. Since they got him, he has been a great pitcher, turning in a better line than almost anyone would’ve thought. Here are his stats since he got to the team.

21.2 Innings. 2.91 ERA. 15 Ks. 2 BBs. 1.0154 WHIP

Mariners fans should be incredibly happy with Tyler Anderson so far

Tyler Anderson has 22 starts this season. He has gone at least 5 innings all 22 times. That’s incredible. Even better, he has been incredibly consistent when doing so. 3 runs in six of them, and 2 or less in 13 of them. By game score, this is his 3rd best start of the season, scoring a 66.

It was a quick and efficient game as well from Anderson, throwing just 83 pitches, 57 of which were strikes (68.7%). After the Mariners spotted him a one-run lead in the top of the third on a Ty France Sac Fly, Anderson’s lone mistake of the night would occur when he gave up a solo home run to Andy Ibanez, making it 1-1 after three innings.

Another Sac Fly, this time by Mitch Haniger, would make 2-1 in the 5th. Anderson would exit after the 6th inning, and be on the hook for the win. Wins aren’t everything in baseball for a starting pitcher (just ask Felix… too soon?), but they still are nice to look at.

Luis Torrens would provide an insurance run in the 9th by hitting a solo home run… although it took a bit of time to figure out if the ball actually left the field of play or not.

Mariners games are exciting and stressful enough a lot of the time. Torrens is one of the main contributors to that, having hit three balls within a week that were within one foot of the top of the fence. They’ve all worked out (walk-off single, two-run double, solo home run), but it makes for a heart-stopping moment when he hits them. This one was the most, as the first thought was Torrens got robbed, before realizing it was actually a home run.

With a 3-1 lead heading into the ninth, the Mariners would turn to Paul Sewald to shut the door on the Rangers. OF COURSE it had to happen that Jonah Heim (GRRRRR) came to the plate. Two outs. One runner on, and down by two, with a chance to tie the game with one swing of the bat, and the game was over.

I know that sentence looks ugly, but that’s kind of how the thought process went when he came to the plate. He swung at and lined out to Kelenic on the first pitch he saw to end the game, giving the Mariners the 3-1 win. Thank you, Tyler Anderson, Ty France, Mitch Haniger, and Luis Torrens for providing us with another wonderful Mariners win.